‘Swagger‘ follows Jace Carson, a high school basketball standout, on his difficult journey from the local league to the national title.
Jace tries to become the country’s best player while navigating the ups and downs of high school, despite the obstacles in his way.
The season finale also unveils Jace’s coach, Ike, and sends viewers on an emotional journey as he and the rest of Swagger DMV try to defeat the odds.
The chapter ends positively, and a lot happens in the season’s last moments. We’ve got your back if you think you might have missed some of the finer points.
Here’s a recap and explanation of the first season of ‘Swagger.’
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
Recap of the First Season of Swagger
Apple TV+ ‘Swagger’ begins with Jace Carson, a high school basketball player, leaving his previous team, SP Grind, for a new squad coached by the controversial but dedicated Coach Ike.
Jenna, the mother of the young basketball player, is single-mindedly focused on her son’s success in the game and is critical of Ike’s techniques and training.
Things become even more complicated when Nick Mendez, the only high school basketball player ranked higher than Jace, joins Swagger DMV, putting our hero’s position as the team’s leading scorer in jeopardy.
Swagger DMV makes it to the national finals despite unfavourable odds, racism, and various other challenges that arise throughout the season.
Jace assists his team in reaching nationals, but he gets injured in the final match, making him unable to participate in any of the championship games.
Despite this, he travels with the squad to Florida in the hopes of seeing his long-lost father while also supporting his teammates.
Jenna, meantime, discovers that Ike cheated in his final college basketball game and begins digging into the past.
She tells Jace about her concerns, and when pressed, Ike admits to rigging matches when he was younger.
The coach and his top player had a falling out as a result of this. Even as Ike tries to make peace with his past, Jace soon recognises that Ike has always had his best interests at heart and returns to appreciating him.
Swagger Season 1: Is Swagger DMV Wins The National Championship?
Swagger DMV performs excellently in the first several matches at nationals but struggles to win without Jace, who is resting his wounded leg for another two weeks at the request of his doctor.
Jace, however, cannot hold himself back after a heartbreaking defeat and returns to the team for the final.
The game is close throughout, and Jace initially struggles with his leg before pushing through and scoring the game-winning score.
As a result, Swagger DMV wins nationals, and Jace receives the match MVP trophy, which he delivers over to his estranged father while watching from the stands.
Ike finally speaks out about his tumultuous history and provides a video of his final college match. Ike is eventually vindicated, and even Jenna learns to trust him as Jace observes and knows his coach did nothing wrong.
Season 1 ends with the team enjoying their national championship win. At the same time, various sponsors approach them, and Ike, ever cautious, warns his players that staying at the top is just as difficult as getting there.
So Swagger DMV ultimately wins nationals, and the team goes from a fledgling venture with no chance of winning state to being crowned the best high-school basketball team in the country in the first season’s plot arc.
The team’s win will have far-reaching consequences for everyone involved, including Ike.
The struggling coach who supplements his income by working at a furniture store will finally be recognised, and he will most likely be given the opportunity to clear his record.
Alonzo Powers, a representative from Gladiator footwear, tries to capture Meg’s attention in the last seconds of season 1, most likely to offer the squad a much-needed sponsorship.
The Swagger DMV co-owner gives Powers the cold shoulder, but it soon becomes evident that the basketball club will receive a sponsorship deal from Gladiator, boosting their power.
Swagger DMV has faced some of the best teams in the past, including those sponsored by the sneaker manufacturer.
As a result of winning nationals, Swagger DMV appears to have a bright and busy future ahead of them.
Is It Possible that Ike Rigged His Final College Match?
In the season finale, Ike’s backstory, which has been veiled in mystery for most of the first season, is eventually revealed.
The coach offers a recording of his final match, and it’s evident that he didn’t drop points on purpose. Ike explains to Jace after he sees it that it was Lester Davis, the latter’s teammate, who was involved in match-fixing.
Ike tried to save his team from losing in the final match and save Lester from being found rigging the game, which led to Ike being blamed.
Unfortunately, Ike’s father began to suspect his son of cheating in his final match and stopped communicating to him, a painful memory for the coach.
When Ike admits that he did not, in fact, cheat in the final episode of Season 1, it also becomes evident that he was never able to make amends with his father and must live with the pain of knowing that his father considered him a cheater.
Is Jace Able To Meet His Father?
Throughout Season 1, Jace and his sister, Jackie, discreetly write to their separated father and eventually confess to their mother that they wish to meet him.
Jenna is outraged at first, claiming that she has worked hard to ensure that her children would never require assistance from their father.
However, the single mother finally realises how vital it is for her children to meet their father and permits them to travel to Florida to do so.
Jace’s first meeting with his father is a disaster, with the young athlete storming out because he can’t control his emotions.
Unlike Jackie, who is just interested in seeing him, Jace is motivated by a need to prove his ability to his estranged parent.
As a result, Jace is finally reunited with his father, but the conclusion is unexpected.
The young athlete offers his father his MVP trophy after winning the national championship as a reminder that he walked out on a small boy who grew up to be the best high-school basketball player in the country.
As a result, Jace and his father’s final encounter in Season 1 concluded with the former walking away from the latter, leaving the estranged man stunned and distraught.